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OSHA
Region 8
June 27, 2023
US Department of Labor cites Utah solar power company after inspectors find workers atop snow-covered Johnstown roof without fall protection
Ion Solar LLC’s history of workplace safety violations continues
DENVER – Cited 12 times since 2018 for endangering workers, a Utah-based solar provider allowed employees to work on an icy, snow-covered two-story roof in Johnstown without legally required fall protection in late December 2022, a U.S. Department of Labor safety investigation found.
Acting on a complaint about workers’ safety at risk, the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration opened an inspection and found that Ion Solar LLC ignored fall protection requirements in the company’s safety and health program, which exposed its employees to falls from elevation, the construction industry’s leading cause of death.
An onsite company manager told an OSHA investigator that he did not enforce the safety program for a one-day job. In addition to not ensuring the use of fall protection, Ion Solar also did not provide employees on the ground with hard hats to protect them from objects falling from the roof. OSHA cited the company for lack of hard hats and willfully exposing workers to falls, with a total proposed penalty of $170,992.
“Serious and fatal injuries on construction sites can occur on day one or day 10,” said OSHA Area Director Amanda Kupper in Denver. “Regardless of how long a project takes, employers are required to protect their workers from start to finish.”
Since 2018, the company’s history of workplace safety issues includes OSHA violations from inspections in May 2018 in Arvada; December 2020 in San Antonio, Texas, and Hampton, Virginia; September 2022 in Aurora and in Gresham, Oregon; and February 2023 in Garner, North Carolina.
Founded in 2013, Ion Solar provides design, installation and inspection, and system maintenance of residential solar power systems. Based in Provo, Utah, the company has locations in 11 states nationwide.
Ion Solar LLC has 15 business days from receipt of citation and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
OSHA’s stop falls website offers safety information and video presentations in English and Spanish to teach workers about fall hazards and proper safety procedures.
Region 1
June 22, 2023
US Department of Labor again cites Dollar Tree Inc. for failing to safeguard Rhode Island workers, this time at Coventry store
Nationwide discount retailer cited for repeat violations, faces $294K in new penalties
PROVIDENCE, RI – For the third time in three months, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited one of the nation’s largest discount retail chains, Dollar Tree Inc. for allowing hazardous conditions at one of its Rhode Island stores, this one in Coventry.
Responding to a complaint, OSHA opened an inspection at the 760 Tiogue Ave. Dollar Tree store in January 2023. Inspectors found store employees exposed to slip and trip hazards created by haphazardly stacked boxes falling and spilling items in the store’s shopping area and wheeled carts, large boxes, bins and trash spread throughout the stockroom. They also discovered boxes of merchandise stacked unsafely in the stockroom, exposing employees to collapse and struck-by hazards.
These conditions led OSHA to cite Dollar Tree for two repeat violations with $294,668 in proposed penalties. Federal workplace safety inspectors have cited the company previously for allowing similar hazards at stores in Providence, and in Idaho, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Texas.
“We have cited Rhode Island Dollar Tree locations before for unsafely stored stock and materials, so they are well aware of these hazards and how to fix them,” said OSHA Area Director Robert Sestito in Providence, Rhode Island. “It’s time they put worker safety over profits.”
Since 2017, federal and state OSHA programs identified more than 300 violations in more than 500 inspections at Dollar Tree and Family Dollar stores operated by Dollar Tree Inc., based in Chesapeake, Virginia. In April 2023, the agency cited the company’s locations in East Providence and Pawtucket for obstructing exits and unsafely stacking materials, for which Dollar Tree has paid $539,095 in penalties.
Dollar Tree Inc. operates more than 16,000 Dollar Tree and Family Dollar locations in 48 states and five Canadian provinces. The company also has a nationwide logistics network and has more than 193,000 employees. The publicly traded company reported a gross profit of $7.7 billion in 2021.
The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
MSHA
MSHA News Release: [May 31, 2023]
Identified 914 violations, including 257 significant, substantial violations since Jan. 1, 2023
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Mine Safety and Health Administration completed impact inspections at 20 mines in 15 states in April 2023 and found 335 violations.
Since Jan. 1, 2023, MSHA’s inspections identified 914 violations, including 257 significant and substantial and 18 unwarrantable failure findings. An S&S violation is one reasonably likely to cause a reasonably serious injury or illness. Violations designated as unwarrantable failures occur when an inspector finds aggravated conduct that constitutes more than ordinary negligence.
The agency opens impact inspections at mines that merit increased agency attention and enforcement due to poor compliance history; previous accidents, injuries, and illnesses; and other compliance concerns. MSHA began using impact inspections after an April 2010 explosion in West Virginia at the Upper Big Branch Mine killed 29 miners.
Among the 355 violations MSHA found in April’s impact inspections were 92 significant and substantial and 5 unwarrantable failure findings. The agency completed these inspections at mines in Arkansas, Arizona, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
“Impact inspections highlight the need for mine operators to be vigilant at all times and act quickly to prevent accidents and repeat violations,” said Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health Chris Williamson. “MSHA uses impact inspections to protect the nation’s miners from exposure to the serious safety and health hazards that exist in mine operations.”
The findings in one of April’s impact inspections shows the importance of these targeted inspections in holding mine operators responsible for miners’ safety and health. MSHA opened an inspection in Ohio’s Sandusky County at the Martin Marietta Magnesia Special mine, a large surface lime plant and quarry near Woodville given the following concerns:
- Three recent hazard complaints and a 2022 nonfatal days lost accident rate almost three times higher than the national average for this type of mine.
- A serious accident on April 11, 2023, when a miner suffered injuries after a metal guard fell on them. Investigators determined the mine failed to maintain the guard properly. To date, the miner has not returned to work.
- An increased number of citations and orders.
- A high rate of significant and substantial citations and orders.
MSHA issued 26 citations following its impact inspection in Woodville. These included 14 significant and substantial violations with an S&S rate of about 54 percent. Inspectors also found violations in two areas of great concern: Martin Marietta did not barricade a hazardous area that exposed workers to serious and potentially fatal injury, similar to the April 11 injury, and failed to construct and maintain guarding that exposed workers to serious injuries. MSHA cited a lack of proper guarding as a factor in its April 11 injury investigation.